Cardinal Directions Research Articles

Elemental Variability in Stems of Pinus sylvestris L.: Whether a Single Core Can Represent All the Stem

In dendrochemical studies, an analysis of wooden cores extracted from tree stems is a widely spread research method. A methodological problem is related to the method: whether a single core per tree can be representative of all the stems. The study aimed to estimate how the elemental contents are variable in the tree rings and whether the contents correlate among different cores. The cores were extracted from stems of Pinus sylvestris L., four cores per tree, according to the cardinal directions (east, west, north, south). The elemental contents (Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Sr) were estimated through the X-ray fluorescent analysis facility Itrax Multiscanner (COX Analytical Systems). The agreement between the temporal series of different cores was estimated through Spearman’s correlation coefficients. It has been found that the temporal intra-tree series for almost all the studied elements do not correlate with each other. The exclusions are Ca and K which show strong consistent correlations. The source for the correlations is, however, the long-term trends from the pith to the bark. The detrending of the Ca and K series reveals some high-frequency correlations which are not consistent among the trees. At least for Scots pine, a single core is unlikely to be a reliable representative of the whole stem in the respect of elemental content. A few research directions to overcome the uncertainty has been discussed.

MR-linac daily semi-automated end-to-end quality control verification.

Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) on the integrated Elekta Unity magnetic resonance (MR)-linac requires routine quality assurance to verify delivery accuracy and system data transfer. In this work, our objective was to develop and validate a novel automated end-to-end test suite that verifies data transfer between multiple software platforms and quantifies the performance of multiple machine subcomponents critical to the ART process. We designed and implemented a software tool to quantify the MR and megavoltage (MV) isocenter coincidence, treatment couch positioning consistency, isocenter shift accuracy for the adapted plan as well as the MLC and jaw position accuracy following the beam aperture adaptation. Our tool employs a reference treatment plan with a simulated isocenter shift generated on an MR image of a readily available phantom with MR and MV visible fiducials. Execution of the test occurs within the standard adapt-to-position (ATP) clinical workflow with MV images collected of the delivered treatment fields. Using descriptive statistics, we quantified uncertainty in couch positioning, isocentre shift as well as the jaw and MLC positions of the adapted fields. We also executed sensitivity measurements to evaluate the detection algorithm's performance. We report the results of 301 daily testing instances. We demonstrated consistent tracking of the MR-to-MV alignment with respect to the established value and to detect small changes on the order of 0.2mm following machine service events. We found couch position consistency relative to the test baseline value was within 95% CI [-0.31, 0.26mm]. For phantom shifts that form the basis for the plan adaptation, we found agreement between MV-image-detected phantom shift and online image registration, within±1.5mm in all directions with a 95% CI difference of [-1.29, 0.79mm]. For beam aperture adaptation accuracy, we found differences between the planned and detected jaw positions had a mean value of 0.27mm and 95% CI of [-0.29, 0.82mm] and -0.17mm and 95% CI of [-0.37, 0.05mm] for the MLC positions. Automated fiducial detected accuracy was within 0.08±0.20mm of manual localization. Introduced jaw and MLC position errors (1-10mm) were detected within 0.55mm (within 1mm for 15/256 instances for the jaws). Phantom shifts (1.3 or 5mm in each cardinal direction) from a reference position were detected within 0.26mm. We have demonstrated the accuracy and sensitivity of a daily end-to-end test suite capable of detecting errors in multiple machine subcomponents including system data transfer. Our test suite evaluates the entire treatment workflow and has captured system communication issues prior to patient treatment. With automated processing and the use of a standard vendor-provided phantom, it is possible to expand to other Unity sites.

Spatio-temporal distribution and mass-trapping of leopard moth, Zeuzera pyrina in walnut orchards

Leopard moth Zeuzera pyrina L. (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is a serious pest of walnut orchards in Iran. This study was conducted during two growing seasons, 2019 and 2020 in walnut orchards located in Ajabshir County, East Azarbaijan Province of Iran. At the beginning of the growing season, pheromone delta sticky traps (baited with female sex pheromone) were placed in the canopy of the treatment trees at 6 m above the ground (16 traps per hectare). The traps were checked weekly and the captured insects were counted and removed. Geostatistics was used to determine the spatial distribution pattern of male adults captured by pheromone traps. At the end of the growing season, damage of leopard moth larvae was assessed in 60 trees chosen from the control and treatment plots. Eight terminal branches were taken from each tree stratified in four cardinal directions (N, E, S, and W) and two canopy levels (upper and lower halves of the tree crown). The number of larval galleries in each sample was counted. The male trapping effect was not significant in the first year of the study, but it reduced leopard moth damage significantly in the second year (p < 0.01). Effects of cardinal direction, canopy level and their interactions were not significant on leopard moth damage (p > 0.05). The geostatistical analysis indicated that leopard moth male adults had random distribution at low populations, and were aggregated during flight peak with moderate to strong spatial autocorrelation. It can be concluded that distribution maps, prepared for spatially autocorrelated datasets, can be used for precision mass-trapping during the flight peak of leopard moth, as a safe method for the environment and natural enemies.

Elemen Estetis Sendratari Manarajang Lawok pada Pertunjukan Launching Calendar of Charming Event Palembang Tahun 2022

The purpose of this paper is to find out how the aesthetic elements contained in the Manarajang Lawok ballet. The problem is focused on the aesthetic elements of choreography. In order to approach this problem, a theoretical, a theoretical reference from Y. Sumandiyo Hadi was used in 2012 with the title choreography (From-Engineering-Content). The data were collected throuhg data triangulation and analyzed qualitatively. This study concludes that the manarajang lawok ballet is a new creation, dance by 10 dancers. The Manarajang Lawok ballet is discussed in 3 aesthetic elements of choreography, namely the concept of motion as an aesthetic element of choreography, namely the movements performed by dancers are focussed in such away as to make it look epic when performed. The conceptof space as an aesthetic choreography element which is further divided into positive-negative space discussions, levels using low, medium and high levels, floor patterns using locomotor movement, stasionary and pause, directions using the eight cardinal directions, dimensions which includes height, width and depth. It is also discussed in the concept of time as an aesthetic element of choreography, which is divided into three parts, aspects of the tempo of the fast and slow movements performed by the dancers, the aspect of rhythm, namely the strenght and softness of the movements performed, and the duration, which is 11 minutes 40 seconds.

Symbolism of Compass Roses on Early Modern Nautical Charts of the Adriatic Sea

This qualitative analysis of symbolic elements in nautical cartography aims to provide an interdisciplinary insight into some aspects of early modern cartographic representations of the Adriatic Sea. The nautical charts were supplemented with compass roses, a graphic structure that facilitates orientation and correlates with rhumb lines. The research objective focusses primarily on the variety of signs for the cardinal directions north and east, additionally considering some rare but innovative and avant-garde pragmatic uses of compass roses to indicate magnetic declination. On the majority of the selected nautical charts, most of which were created in Mediterranean and Western European cultural centres, decorative elements such as the fleur-de-lis and the cross were used in compass roses to determine the cardinal points. The compass roses of these nautical charts often served as symbolic evidence of the social and economic belonging of the Adriatic to the European part of the Mediterranean geographical system, as well as to the Christian sphere of tradition and influence. The study has thus proved the existence of significant symbolic communication capacity of a compass rose, which was not only a utilitarian but also an artistic element.

Decoding the dance parameters of eastern honeybee, Apis cerana

Bees dance to deliver food vectors that contain information regarding distance gauging and spatial orientation. The eastern honey bee, Apis cerana, also transmits this vector information through waggle dance. Although many reports have published on this topic, changes in dance parameters of A. cerana that occur at different distances are unclear. Herein, we filmed the bees’ foraging dance at different distances until the bees stopped collecting food, analyzed these videos frame by frame, and set a feeder in four cardinal directions to record the changes in bees’ dance with the azimuth of the sun. The duration and number of waggle runs of the dancers significantly correlated with the distance from hive to feeder. The dance parameter exhibited a linear model with distance. As the sun’s azimuth changed, the angle of the waggle run changed counterclockwise. We elucidate how to combine distance and direction to calibrate the spatial distribution of the resource location advertised by dance. Finally, we discuss the dance and navigation of long-distance collection and provide a basis for further understanding of the foraging ecological strategies of eastern honeybee.

Impact of street path's form on achieving human scale in a city

A city's human scale can be achieved if people recognized the four Cardinal Directions (CDs) anywhere within the city. As a reflection of the theory of ‘prospect and refuge,’ this paper investigates the problem of losing a city's human scale, by studying the impact of the form of the street paths on maintaining and perception of the four CDs. The paper highlights the problem of a non-designed street network and the heterogeneity of its texture. The paper explores the impact of such random street networks on achieving the human scale of cities. Kharga City in Egypt located on (25.4390° N, 30.5586° E) is an example of cities suffering from non-designed street networks. Therefore, the paper relied on the inferential statistics approach by surveying a sample of residents in Kharga City, with the assumption that, the main reason for that problem was the various curves existing in the street paths, which had different shapes, sizes, diameters, and directions. Moreover, the lack of a typical street network pattern had aggravated the problem. Analysis and results confirmed the hypothesis of the research, hence basic recommendations were made. The most important of which is, the need to avoid random curves in street directions, and to follow the orthogonal grid pattern, mainly in the design of street networks, in order to ensure a city with human-scale, that is easy to recognize its correct mental map.

Techno-Environmental Assessment of Insulation Materials in Saudi Arabia: Integrating Thermal Performance and LCA

Arid and hot regions, like Saudi Arabia, utilize up to 60% of the country’s energy to regulate buildings’ indoor comfort. Energy efficiency is a long-term sustainability measure that is part of the government’s Vision 2030 strategy. A standard method of improving the thermal performance of buildings is through the use of insulation materials. Considering the cooling loads’ requirement and the Global Warming Potential (GWP), the present research evaluated the effectiveness of insulation materials, including extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, rock wool, and glass wool in the hot, arid climate. For this case study, four similar villas facing the cardinal directions were selected from the residential project at Qassim University. HOBO data loggers were used to collect indoor temperature data. Thermal performance and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were conducted in accordance with Saudi Building Code-602 (SBC-602). Simulation outputs based on the four cardinal directions were used for assessing the thermal performance and LCA of the different thicknesses and densities of insulation materials. This was done using IESVE and SimaPro, IMPACR2002+, to assess their cooling load and GWP, respectively. The results suggest the potential for using lower insulation thickness for the northern and western façades without violating the SBC. The results obtained the actual thicknesses of the three insulation materials for achieving indoor temperatures in the four cardinal directions and the selection of materials and their densities along with associated GWP. The outputs of the study have been generalized in the form of a performance-based flowchart as a tool for selecting the type and thickness of thermal and environmental insulation in residential buildings in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.

Local Wisdom for Economic Development of Coastal Communities and Their Problems

This study analyzed forms of local wisdom in Lamalera on whaling, the role of the Lamalera locals in whaling, factors influencing Lamalera locals in whaling and, the consequences and solutions to the factors that influence the Lamalera community in whaling. The researchers used the ethnographic approach and the Sustainable Levelihood Approach (SLA). The results showed that the form of local wisdom in whaling, namely the whaling tradition (Leva Nuang) became a life strategy for the Lamalera community in the form of local wisdom which was marked by the activities of the fishing process, traditional whaling management processes and markets barter. the whaling tradition is a customary tradition that is still maintained to this day. Factors triggering the Lamalera community to carry out whaling activities, namely social capital, namely building harmonious family relationships between fellow Lamalera communities, even with mountain communities, the role of traditional institutions and religious institutions. The Lamalera people also believe that there is land and sea relations and customary norms that become the basis for the life of the Lamalera people in the sea, namely: Prohibition to catch pregnant whales, prohibition to catch blue whales (Klaru), whales must be respected, not allowed to continue chasing whales when they find hills or land in the middle of the sea, and in the sea the fishermen must look at the cardinal directions, if the sun sets the fish being chased must be released. (4) sometimes the Lamalera fishing community ignores this, such as when the community catches pregnant whales.

“I GO DOWNSTREAM, AND YOU GO TOWARD THE SNOWSTORM”: EXPRESSIONS OF CARDINAL DIRECTIONS IN NGANASAN AND DOLGAN

This corpus-based study is dedicated to the topic of spatial orientation in two genetically unrelated but geographically neighboring languages, Ngnasan and Dolgan. Nganasan belongs to the Northern-Samoyedic branch of the Uralic language family, while Dolgan is a Turkic language. The Dolgans reached the peninsula later than the Nganasan and inhabited rather the eastern part. The goal is to typologically examine the linguistic realization of the directions of the so-called compass orientation. This is a very well-known fact that many indigenous languages, including many languages spoken in Siberia, do not know compass orientation. According to Brown (1983), speakers of many indigenous languages use three or only two cardinal points, however, in many languages, the speakers do not necessarily use the names of the compass direction but apply other concepts for expressing spatial directions. Brown (1983) identifies several sources of lexemes expressing the cardinal points, such as celestial bodies, which is the most often used source. It also occurs in the Samoyedic languages, e.g. in Selkup, but as we will see, not in the closely related Nganasan. Atmospheric features such as wind, seasons, blizzards, or environment- specific features such as a mountain, forest, or tundra can be metaphorically extended, thereby acting as the conceptual source of cardinal directions. The study follows Brown's typologization and tries to classify the results into their typological categories. We will find similarities and differences between the two languages regarding the conceptual sources. Both languages rely on the so-called landmarks for orientation in the surrounding areas, such as tundra, forest, river, or mountain, but beyond that, Nganasan uses other, non-common categories as well. These reflect a connection to their way of life; thus, it can be interpreted as a culture-specific source, which in turn has its origin in the environment. In contrast, the Nganasans do not use rivers as orientation points at all, although they live partly on the same rivers. Also typical only for the Nganasan is the use of atmospheric features a conceptual source. It does not play a role in any way in the Dolgan.

Compatibility of Sustainable Facility Management and Building Information Modeling Applications: The Role of Naming Conventions

This research focuses on data transfer from Sustainable Facility Management (SFM) to Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications—specifically BUILDER SMS to Autodesk Revit—where the BIM models are created for existing buildings. BIM models were created for ten existing buildings to support initial data transfer based on different object parameters: (a) alphanumeric identifier (five buildings); and (b) name (five buildings). The identifier is randomly assigned by BUILDER SMS. The name is derived from the cardinal direction for exterior components and room names for interior components. The comparison of the methods was accomplished by observing times to ensure data compatibility, complete Revit models, and transfer data from BUILDER SMS to Revit. The name method was faster regarding data compatibility, but no statistical evaluation could be made. The identifier method resulted in shorter model completion times, but the difference was not statistically significant. It was also faster for first-time data transfer, but, again, no statistical evaluation could be made. The difference in total effort required by the methods was not large. Furthermore, the first data transfer for either method can transfer the other parameter, i.e., a name-based data transfer can add the identifier to the Revit model and an identifier-based transfer can add the name. The name method may be slightly better than the identifier method because object names follow an intuitive and logical standard naming convention (specified in the SFM application). The process of ensuring data compatibility by manually entering object names may be less error-prone compared to manually entering alphanumeric identifiers; however, that was not demonstrated here as all of the resulting models were error-free regarding data transfer. The methods described provide useful insights for other SFM/BIM transfer scenarios, such as other applications and models generated during the design phase.

Effects of hive entrance orientation on honey bee colony activity

In an effort to determine the effects of the orientation of hive entrance on honey bee colony activity and temperature, hives were placed facing different cardinal directions (3–5 hives per direction). Hive weight was recorded every 5 minutes and temperature every 30 minutes from April 2019 to June 2020. Daily weight data were analyzed using piecewise regression. In southern Arizona from December to March, hives facing east started daily flight activity 50 minutes earlier than hives facing west and ended flight activity 57 minutes earlier than hives facing south. During that period east-facing hives had the lowest daily hive weight loss, 62 g per d compared to 100 g per d for north-facing hives. East-facing hives were also about 7 °C cooler on average than west-facing hives, suggesting that lower hive weight loss was due to lower food consumption which was directly related to lower colony cluster temperatures. From December to March hives facing east also had significantly lower morning weight loss due to departing foragers than hives facing north (indicating more foragers) but higher weight loss from April to June 2020. Most effects were observed from December to March, probably due to restricted daylight hours and lower ambient temperatures. No significant effects were observed with respect to visually-estimated adult bee numbers (frames of bees) or the surface areas of the sealed brood. We recommend hive orientation be taken into account in the design of field experiments that involve monitoring colony activity.

A Figure of Heroic Size

A Figure of Heroic Size Jae Towle Vieira (bio) In Katie’s hometown—Auburn, California—the scales have been missing from the Ladies of Justice at the courthouse for more than one hundred years. Each of the three statues presides over a cardinal direction. None blindfolded, but none with pupils. All grip modest swords in their right hands, and all their lefts are extended as if to hand back change. Katie’s aged uncle wrote an article about the missing scales for the local paper as part of a retrospective in celebration of the new millennium. There are no pictures of the courthouse under construction (one of at least five local mysteries), but photographs of the completed structure from 1897 confirmed that every Iustitia and/or Themis once held a balanced set of scales, swinging on a real chain. The readership appreciated this nugget of local trivia, but no one advocated to reinstate the scales. Their absence had become a tradition of its own. At conception, back in the late 1800s, reports say the courthouse’s dome was capped by “a figure of Progress, of heroic size”—apparently some sort of Cupid, though again there are no pictures—but this Eros was quickly supplanted by a weathervane, which more effectively secured the loyalties of the town. The weathervane was temporarily replaced by the Stars and Stripes during the nationalist fervor of 1917, but this change was received with displeasure. The traditionalists loved Old Glory as much as anyone, but let’s not forget that we have a particular way of doing things around here. The weathervane was eventually restored to its place of honor. Patriotism is important in this old Gold Rush town—certainly one of the top five local values—but not so important as history. Katie’s ex-husband has five sons with his new wife, and all of them, from six to sixteen, race dirtbikes. They can be found at the track every Friday night, zipped into black leather suits with fox head logos across the shoulders, revving, helmets glossy even though the stands and the crowd and the cars and the grills and the beams of the floodlights and [End Page 134] the railroad tracks and the ponderosa pines are all suffused in ochre dust. The six-year-old is a crowd favorite. Katie knows this because she is one of the photographers who comes to every race all summer long. She takes pictures of the racers in hopes of future sales. This is not as easy as it used to be (and it was never easy, strictly speaking), but it is not impossible to make a living this way. She also photographs monster truck rallies, cross-country ski meets, and the Western States Endurance Run, which is her favorite. She takes portraits of seniors at three local high schools, covers festivals including Railroad Days, the Gold Country Fair, the Placer Farm and Barn Tour, the Mountain Mandarin Festival, Lake Tahoe’s Concours d’Elegance, and, with the help of her assistant Ophelia, she shoots weddings. One might say she gets around. “Kitty,” her ex-husband says, leaning against his bike one Fast Friday, cocking his helmeted head. “How’ve you been? We missed you at Peter’s birthday last weekend. The big One-Oh!” “Double digits,” she says, nodding, because Peter is standing nearby, half a hot dog in hand and half in mouth. His helmet, twice as large as his blond buzzed head, is tucked under his other arm. “That’s a big deal!” She makes as if to keep walking. “Really though, how are you?” her ex-husband asks. His voice is muffled; he hasn’t removed his helmet. He always holds himself completely still while talking. Katie believes this is because he cannot stand auditory clutter. When they first moved in together, he convinced her to pawn her father’s mantel clock. “Ticking is for classrooms and other prisons,” he said. The first time they fucked in her bed, he’d attempted to rise above the provocation of her percale sheets. Finally, red-faced and flaccid, he’d asked, “Can’t you do something about this?” “You know me,” Katie says...

Assessment of the impacts of window-to-wall ratio and overhangs on building energy performance – Kabul, Afghanistan

Windows have the potential to save energy in a significant way. Therefore, the analysis and optimization of the Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) play an important role in improving energy efficiency in buildings. Windows are always beneficial to utilize daylight and reduce lighting energy demand. However, solar heat gain is advantageous during cold days and disadvantageous on hot days. As the configuration of the window areas varies according to the geographical location, the objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of WWR on the energy performance of buildings in the cold semi-arid climate of Kabul, Afghanistan. In this study, various energy simulations were conducted for three types of building shapes (Square, Rectangle, and “L”-Shape) to determine the most energy-efficient proportion of windows and overhang sizes in different cardinal directions. Based on the simulation results, windows on south façades have notable energy-saving potential in Kabul's climatic conditions. However, increasing the window size on north, east, and west façade leads to an increase in the total heating and cooling energy consumption. The optimal WWR of the south façade window for square, rectangular, and “L”-Shaped is 0.7, 0.55, and 0.55, respectively. Additionally, the findings indicate that overhangs in all orientations slightly affect the total energy demand as they only reduce cooling load. The study concludes that optimizing the windows on the south façade reduces energy demand by up to 8.13% if no windows are provided in other directions, while the total energy consumption rises by up to 36% as the WWR on the north, east, and west façades increase from 0 to 0.8.

Green facades - Their use in the sponge city

Greenery in the urban environment is slowly disappearing and is being replaced by new construction. This trend has several consequences. One of them is the overheating of the urban climate and the associated increased need for energy for cooling. We are trying to eliminate this negative impact by creating green structures on buildings. As such, greenery brings a number of benefits. It helps to cool buildings, but also the urban climate, through the shading effect of leaves and the evaporation of trapped water. There are a number of studies around the world that investigate green roofs, or green facades. The effect of green leaf area index on cooling by shading and the effect of the distance of the façade from the envelope are investigated. Another influence is the orientation to the cardinal directions and the careful selection of plants. One of the main factors influencing the functionality of green facades is the choice of plants in relation to the climatic conditions in the country. In this article I discuss the adaptation of green facades to the climatic conditions in Slovakia. In Slovakia this issue is minimally studied and green facades occur only sporadically or only seasonally.

Block Algebra-Based Consistency Checking With Cardinal Direction Relations in 3D Space

Block Algebra-Based Consistency Checking With Cardinal Direction Relations in 3D Space

Disorientasi Harmonisasi Rumah Tangga dalam Keluarga Muslim di Era Digital

Islamic studies with an astronomical approach are interesting and important, because the history of the development of Muslims in religious practice cannot be separated from the astronomical field as well as advanced technology and also science. This journal aims to reveal three things are: first, the understanding of the astronomical approach second, methods, techniques, and research steps in the astronomical approach third, the implementation of the astronomical approach in Islamic studies. The method used is a literature study by digging from primary and secondary books as well as national and international scientific journals. The results of this study indicate are: first, etymologically astronomy comes from the Greek, namely Astron (ἄστρον, “star”) and Nomos (νόμος law/culture). According to the term is the science of calculation or almanac determination, the physical and chemical properties of objects that can be seen in the sky and beyond the earth. Second, the research method used in the astronomical approach is literature study and observation. Third, among the implementations, namely the application of determining Islamic dates, the application of the cardinal directions in determining the Qibla direction, application in weather prediction, as well as the sun, stars, moon in predicting sunny weather, rain or eclipses.

Число в калмыцких деловых текстах XVII–XVIII вв. (на материале писем хана Аюки и их русских переводов)

Introduction. A number with peculiar symbolism is closely associated with the shaping of a certain linguistic worldview, and can articulate essentials of material and spiritual culture. However, official Kalmyk texts have not yet been examined for numeric symbolism. Official narratives usually tend to desacralize numbers, the latter to function only as denoters of quantities and measures. Still, such letters may contain tokens involving numbers to be characterized as sacred and able to preserve elements of symbolic semantics in definite contexts. Goals. The article aims at revealing peculiarities of number as ethnolinguistic component in Khan Ayuka’s letters, and comparing 17th–18th century Kalmyk-language texts to synchronic Russian translations. Materials and methods. The paper analyzes letters of the Kalmyk Khan Ayuka housed at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the National Archive of Kalmykia. Both synchronic and diachronic Kalmyk-to-Russian translations of 18th-century letters are investigated for culture-specific vocabulary translation strategies. The employed research methods include the descriptive, comparative ones, and that of contextual analysis. Results and conclusions. 18th-century official Kalmyk letters are abundant in numbers, the latter to be divided into ones that preserve semantic elements of sacrality — and desacralized ones that convey quantitative meanings only. Those are the numbers one, three, and four that retain symbolic semantics in materials analyzed. The number one conveys meanings of insignificance and extremely small quantity — virtually equal to ‘naught’ and ‘absence’. The number three retains its traditional messages to have been traced in etiquette formulas mentioning the Three Jewels of Buddhism. Synchronic translations articulate the deep cultural meanings of three without the number as such — with tools and concepts of a different religious tradition. Both in the original and translated texts, the number four maintains its spatial semantics in etiquette formulas mentioning the four cardinal directions — to convey ideas of dividing the world into ours and theirs, the latter to exist beyond the addresser’s locality characterized by four-side structure oriented towards the center.

Occurrence of Eubulus sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in fruits of Alibertia edulis (Rich.) A. Rich. (Rubiaceae) in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, Brazil

The puruí Alibertia edulis (Rich.) A. Rich. (Rubiaceae) is a naturally occurring species in the Cerrado biome in Brazil; its fruits serve as food for the local fauna (birds and mammals) and humans. Here, we report on a beetle feeding on the fruits of A. edulis in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais (MG). Monthly collections were carried out in four A. edulis trees in two areas of Cerradão in the vicinity of the municipality of Monte Carmelo, MG, between September and October 2018. These were a legal reserve area of Fazenda Juliana (ARL; Juliana Farm; 18°42'30 "S and 47°33'05 "W) and an area at the Atalho Community (ACA; 18°41'39 "S and 47°34'49 "W). Fruits with or without attack symptoms were collected from the treetop in the four cardinal directions. A total of 100 fruits (50 from each area) were collected from the trees and packed into plastic bags. The fruits were then transported to the laboratory, stored in plastic containers isolated with voile fabric, and checked daily for the emergence of adult insects. After emergence, the insects were identified. During the evaluation period, 33 beetles emerged in puruí fruits from ARL and 13 from ACA. The species has been identified as Eubulus (Kirsch) sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The animals consumed the entire fruit endocarp, leaving it with emergence orifices caused by the adult emergence. It is concluded that Eubulus sp. feeds on the pulp of A. edulis and is able to compete for this resource with other animal species.

Using social media images for building function classification

Urban land use on a building instance level is crucial geo-information for many applications yet challenging to obtain. Steet-level images are highly suited to predict building functions as the building façades provide clear hints. Social media image platforms contain billions of images, including but not limited to street perspectives. This study proposes a filtering pipeline to yield high-quality, ground-level imagery from large-scale social media image datasets to cope with this issue. The pipeline ensures all resulting images have complete and valid geotags with a compass direction to relate image content and spatial objects.We analyze our method on a culturally diverse social media dataset from Flickr with more than 28 million images from 42 cities worldwide. The obtained dataset is then evaluated in the context of a building function classification task with three classes: Commercial, residential, and other. Fine-tuned state-of-the-art architectures yield F1 scores of up to 0.51 on the filtered images. Our analysis shows that the quality of the labels from OpenStreetMap limits the performance. Human-validated labels increase the F1 score by 0.2. Therefore, we consider these labels weak and publish the resulting images from our pipeline and the depicted buildings as a weakly labeled dataset.